Ian was very active with Negativland from 1981 to about 1987, and his impact, inspiration, and influence on the group is impossible to overestimate. There would be no group as we know it today, no Over The Edge radio show, no “culture jamming” and no A Big 10-8 Place LP without him. Ian struggled with various serious health issues his entire adult life, and while they lead to his gradual withdrawal from active participation with the group by the late 80s, he remained a good friend and supporter, attending all of our live shows whenever we performed in the San Francisco Bay Area. With Ian’s blessings we were thrilled to recently revive and rework an early 80’s unfinished tape loop based work of his called Like Cattle Act, and made it a part of our current live set. He was part of creating Negativland’s points LP in 1981, introducing to the rest of us, on the track BABAC D’BABC, the idea of using tape splicing not just as a way to make loops and connect tracks, but as a compositional tool unto itself. This revelation led to the exploration of this technique full-on in 1983’s A Big 10-8 Place, and he played a major role in the creation of that record and its unique packaging. He was instrumental in helping to create and articulate the group’s idea of “culture jamming,” and pushed the group into making A Big 10-8 Place our first ever concept LP. From then on that was the standard for us, and nearly every single Negativland release, up to and including our current one, It’s All In Your Head, has been a concept project. He came up with the idea of making four-channel tape loops (as we couldn’t afford early expensive samplers back then) and this became a technique that was used extensively on 1987’s Escape From Noise. Ian was obsessed with the number 17, which is why it appears in various ways on so many Negativland projects and texts in the 80’s and 90’s (please note the day he died!). In the summer of 1981 he introduced the current group members to radio DJ (and now long time Negativland member) Don Joyce, and thus our weekly audio collage radio show Over The Edge was born, still broadcasting to this day.

Throughout his musical career, British musician Robert Wyatt has explored the interaction of words, language, sound and sense. His lyrical and musical delivery, by turns absurdist, infantile, angry and melancholic, deconstructs everyday phrases and invites listeners to question the borders of sense and nonsense. This chapter examines connections between Wyatt’s work and a range of literary voices, particularly those associated with nursery rhyme, nonsense verse and absurdism. A further aim is to explore the role of sense and nonsense in popular music. If one of the ways in which music differs from literature is through its ability to communicate without words, can there be a relationship between sense and nonsense in musical language that correlates with that found in literature? In what ways can musical language be said to make or not make sense? Exposure to Wyatt’s work emphasises the extent to which, as a musician, he has made use of words and vocables, even as he has occasionally distanced himself from the importance of lyrics in his music. By focussing on the literary-textual nature of Wyatt’s work, the text highlights the different demands and expectations placed on the ‘popular’ and the ‘literary’.

26 gennaio 2015

Splendido regalo, per Joe Dworniak, Greg BoneeChris Lapsa, la tromba di Robert Wyatt nel brano Mortalman che apre il loro album d'esordio, Fingers Pointing at the Moon: "We were so incredibly excited when Robert Wyatt offered to play a trumpet part he had conceived on our track Mortalman. When one of the UK's most treasured musical souls makes this kind of gift it creates great energy in the band and production team. It was a while ago but we are still buzzing and even more so on the run up to the album release. Now we will get to share it with everyone who is listening. Thank you Robert".

Norwegian edition of The Wire’s music literary festival with Arto Lindsay in conversation, David Grubbs on sound art, Marcus O'Dair on Robert Wyatt, Sarah Angliss talking about vintage recordings, Ken Hollings on the developing relationship between music, writing and design in the digital age, Savage Pencil on music and underground comics and many others. Plus: an independent music market, screening, workshops and more.

22 gennaio 2015

Il brano sul lato B del singolo di esordio nel 1967 dei Soft Machine, Feelin', Reelin', Squeelin', fu prodotto da lui. E in quale modo, lo ricorda bene Daevid Allen: "The thing about Kim Fowley was, he was a complete codeine freak. So he never stopped talking. But secondly, he astonished everybody by taking the 8-track master tape, and cutting, splicing the 8-track master tape. Which nobody had ever seen done... It was really wild, to make Feelin', Reelin', Squeelin'. So he made these huge massive splices, right across all of the 8-track. Because if you fuck it up, that's it, that's the end of the master." E' scomparso qualche giorno fa, all'età di settantacinque anni, Kim Fowley.

Stella was the anti-yé-yé girl. France had never heard anything like her. A Parisian schoolgirl, she was an agent provocateur who lampooned jolly pop girl Sheila, lamented that France was in thrall to American archetypes, reconfigured Bob Dylan and satirised weekend trendies. This expanded edition, first-ever reissue of the only album Stella issued in the Sixties, irresistibly captures all facets of who she was before she abandoned pop and began working with the jazz-influenced band Magma in the 1970s, whose Christian Vander she would marry. Without Stella, it is impossible to understand who Stella Vander is.

Magma is joining up with Jazz Village to celebrate its 45th anniversary with an impressive series of new and classic releases. A series of new and classic Magma titles has been scheduled for release every month from September 2014 to November 2015. A legendary French group if ever there was one, Magma has continued to influence the course of contemporary music since their debut in 1969. Combining the energy of rock and the ecstasy of jazz, as well as numerous classical influences from Béla Bartók to Carl Orff to the Viennese school, brick by brick Magma has built a unique musical monument that is destined to be a worldwide beacon, as long recognized by their large and devoted following. During this series of releases, lasting over a year, Magma will also be on the road, performing numerous concerts in France as well as other countries where they have a strong fan base: South America, U.K, Germany, Scandinavia, Japan and the United States. Festivities kicked off in France with 3 weeks of concerts at the Triton, just outside Paris, in November 2014 and will be brought to a close in one of the capital’s largest venues in the run-up to Christmas 2015, to coincide with the release of the live box set Konzert Zünd.

After Sunny’s time now, his authoritative portrait of the American Free jazz drumming legend Sunny Murray, Luxembourg filmmaker Antoine Prum turns his attention to the British free improvised music scene in this new feature-length music documentary. Branching out from a three-day festival in Berlin conceived and organised for the purpose of the film, Taking the Dog for a Walk maps the scene of British improvisers, past and present, retracing the road that led from its emergence and emancipation in the 1960s to the recent (albeit small) surge in popularity as talented new players and dynamic venues are coming to the fore. In his search for the ‘Britishness’ of British free improvised music, Prum is assisted by bass sax player Tony Bevan and stand-up comedian Stewart Lee, who talk to musicians from different generations and backgrounds to uncover the specifics of a genre that refutes the very notion of genre. Alternating with extended live music sequences, the conversations gravitate around the idiosyncrasies of improvisation, from playing in front of the proverbial ‘four men and a dog’ to pursuing a career in a milieu where success is not measured by mainstream criteria.

13 gennaio 2015

Importante evento collettivo questa sera alla Town Hall a New York per ricordare il compianto Charlie Haden, scomparso lo scorso luglio. Partecipano anche due storiche formazioni guidate in vita dal grande contrabbassista, il Quartet West e la Liberation Music Orchestra. Di lui ha detto Ornette Coleman: "Charlie would play what it meant to be human, he had a sound that gave people the idea of what music does. When you find that sound that comes from the soul, you can really do something, and Charlie did, he did something for all of us". E Keith Jarrett: "People will always love his playing, but no one will ever imitate him. He was a rare, true original. Perfect intonation, the biggest ears, the warmest, most captivating tone in the history of the jazz bass".

Family and friends, including many jazz greats, will come together to celebrate the life of jazz legend Charlie Haden (1937-2014), Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient and NEA Jazz Master who is one of the most innovative and influential bassists in the history of jazz. Just as importantly, Haden was a husband, a father, a colleague, a friend, a teacher, and a human being passionately concerned about social justice. He first came to fame as a member of the iconic Ornette Coleman Quartet, and literally changed the way the bass was played. He went on to play with Keith Jarrett and a who’s who of music’s greats, including John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Pat Metheny, Michael Brecker, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Abbey Lincoln, and so many more. At the same time he formed his iconic bands Liberation Music Orchestra (in 1969) and Quartet West (in 1986) with which he performed and recorded until his untimely passing. In 1982, he founded the Jazz Studies Program at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA.
Among the many performers will be Geri Allen, Kenny Barron, Carla Bley, Jack DeJohnette, Denardo Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Bill Frisell, Ethan Iverson, Josh Haden and the Haden Triplets, Ruth Cameron-Haden, Dr, Maurice Jackson, Lee Konitz, Pat Metheny, Josh Redman, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Brandee Younger, as well as Quartet West with Alan Broadbent, Ernie Watts, Rodney Green, with Scott Colley on bass, and Liberation Music Orchestra with Carla Bley, Tony Malaby, Chris Cheek, Loren Stillman, Michael Rodriguez, Seneca Black, Curtis Fowlkes, Vincent Chancey, Joe Daley, Steve Cardenas, Matt Wilson, with Steve Swallow on bass.

In many ways Under Your Skin is the first exploration on the cultural diversity of music. DVD and book give a valuable insight on artists from around the globe – from Popular Music to Jazz, Hip Hop, Reggae, Avantgarde, Metal, Electronic, DJ-ing/Turntablism and Classical. The book comprises a vast affiliation of artistic and social culture in its variety and illuminates in a world-wide discussion its usefulness in today’s societies. In interviews the artists discuss their careers, their ups and downs, their tactical skills needed to bring music to the market, the light and shadow sides of touring and the effect it causes. Under Your Skin covers musicians from different generations and gives the reader a close insight into the music business which is rarely shown, from the day to day pursuits to the more humorous side of the business.

In 1980, as the owner of his own label and studio, Morgan Fisher was overwhelmed by the number of ideas he thought up for albums that he could now record and release. Realising that it was impossible to do everything he conceived, he decided to see how many of these ideas could be included on one album. Rather than recording the music himself, he invited 50 musicians who he admired to send in tracks of up to one minute in length. They responded with unanimous enthusiasm, and as well as receiving tapes through the mail from all over the world, Morgan also packed up his Revox tape recorder and went to several musicians homes to record them there. Original artwork for the album was contributed by the notorious Ralph Steadman. The album is an astonishing survey of the cutting-edge music of the period, and includes such gems as: The Residents singing a song from “South Pacific”; Robert Wyatt singing a Frank Sinatra song; David Bedford compressing Wagner’s “Ring Cycle”; Fred Frith shrinking the entire works of Henry Cow; Robert Fripp playing a keyboard; Andy Partridge (XTC) offering the history of rock’n’roll in 20 seconds; Ralph Steadman singing a John Donne poem; R.D. Laing playing the piano; Martin Chambers (The Pretenders) lecturing on ornithology while drumming and Pete Seeger playing Beethoven on the banjo...

1. Jazz, pop and word games, along with family and friends, influence Wyatt's early years.
2. With his band the Soft Machine, Wyatt plays at psychedelic pop happenings and freak outs.
3. After the accident, it is life in a wheelchair. Robert adapts his playing and singing.
4. After the success of the song Shipbuilding, various memorable albums follow.
5. Wyatt much enjoys curating the Meltdown Festival at London's Southbank.

02 gennaio 2015

Sembra procedere ormai spedita la realizzazione di Canterbury Tales, terzo capitolo della serie di documentari musicali scritti e prodotti da Adele Schmidt e José Zegarra Holder denominata Romantic Warriors; l'attenzione è rivolta in questo caso alla cosiddetta scena di Canterbury, sia quella storica sia quella ereditata e interpretata da musicisti di altra latitudine e successiva generazione. Nel messaggio augurale di inizio anno che gli autori hanno inviato ai sostenitori del progetto c'è l'incoraggiante riscontro di una prima proiezione di prova effettuata con successo presso un gruppo di appassionati ed esperti: "We are glad to tell you that we have completed a 115 min. fine-cut of the documentary. On Saturday, December 27 we had a test screening of the film. We showed it in a private screening to about 16 people and had a feedback discussion afterwards. We encouraged the audience to tell us if they could identify spots in the film that needed clarification. The reaction to the film was enthusiastic. We had a very constructive discussion that provided us with great feedback that will help us take the film to the final line. The next two months will be dedicated to finalize the film. We will continue the licensing process of footage, stills and music and we are aiming to go into the mastering process by the end of February."